Monoamine deficiency has been long been linked to depressive, anxiolytic and other disorders (see, e.g.: Charney et al., J. Clin. Psychiatry (1998) 59, 1-14; Delgado et al., J. Clin. Psychiatry (2000) 67, 7-11; Resser et al., Depress. Anxiety (2000) 12 (Suppl 1) 2-19; and Hirschfeld et al., J. Clin. Psychiatry (2000) 61, 4-6. In particular, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) and norepinephrine are recognized as key modulatory neurotransmitters that play an important role in mood regulation. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, citalopram and escitalopram have provided treatments for depressive disorders (Masand et al., Harv. Rev. Psychiatry (1999) 7, 69-84). Noradrenaline or norepinephrin reuptake inhibitors such as reboxetine, atomoxetine, desipramine and nortryptyline have provided effective treatments for depressive, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (Scates et al., Ann. Pharmacother. (2000) 34, 1302-1312; Tatsumi et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. (1997) 340, 249-258).
Enhancement of serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmission is recognized to be synergistic in the pharmacotherapy of depressive and anxiolytic disorders, in comparison with enhancement of only serotonin or norepinephrine neurotransmission alone (Thase et al., Br. J. Psychiatry (2001) 178, 234, 241; Tran et al., J. Clin. Psychopharmacology (2003) 23, 78-86). Dual reuptake inhibitors of both serotonin and norepinephrine, such as duloxetine, milnacipran and venlafaxine are currently under development for treatment of depressive and anxiolytic disorders (Mallinckrodt et al., J. Clin. Psychiatry (2003) 5(1) 19-28; Bymaster et al., Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs (2003) 12(4) 531-543). Dual reuptake inhibitors of serotonin and norepinephrine also offer potential treatments for schizophrenia and other psychoses, dyskinesias, drug addition, cognitive disorders, Alzheimer's disease, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, attention deficit disorders, panic attacks, social phobias, eating disorders such as obesity, anorexia, bulimia and “binge-eating”, stress, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidemia, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, seizure disorders such as epilepsy, and treatment of conditions associated with neurological damage resulting from stroke, brain trauma, cerebral ischaemia, head injury and haemorrhage. Dual reuptake inhibitors of serotonin and norepinephrine also offer potential treatments for disorders and disease states of the urinary tract, and for pain and inflammation.
There is accordingly a need for compounds that are effective as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and/or dual reuptake inhibitors of serotonin and norepinephrine, as well as methods of making and using such compounds in the treatment of depressive, anxiolytic, genitourinary, and other disorders. The present invention satisfies these needs.